POMPEYS PILLAR — In the remote area near Pompey's Pillar, 17-year-old Claire Murnin is bridging a digital divide by sharing the life of a teenage rancher through social media.
Murnin first thought of the idea a few years ago while working on a speech for her FFA project, before creating her Instagram page called 365 Days of Agriculture in 2023.
The goal of the page is to educate and inform people of all ages and walks of life about the industry.
Watch video here:
"I just thought, why don't I post daily about agriculture and the lifestyle most of us live," Murnin said. "It's really important to advocate for agriculture and remind people about how important it is."
Since January 2023, Murnin has stuck to her goal of posting something on the page every single day. The posts range from her doing chores, tending to the animals or even how she spent her recent snow day.
While the posts vary, her primary goal of showing people what it's like to work in agriculture has never changed.
"Without agriculture, we wouldn't be able to survive," Murnin said. "It's so needed just for our food and our clothes and so much more."
Even to her surprise, Murnin's page has gained in popularity quickly reaching to almost 1,500 followers.
"I definitely would've never expected it to grow to where it is today or how it keeps growing," Murnin said. "I kind of realize that I do have an influence on people and I am able to share my stories and the stories of others around me."
Claire's mother Julie Murnin said she was a little anxious when Claire first told her about the idea a couple years ago.
"At first, it was a little nerve racking that she was going to put herself our there," Julie said. "Like, what she was going to say?"
Julie said her fears quickly evaporated as the page came to fruition and she realized the impact it could have.
"It's not just her telling her friends at school what she did over the weekend," Julie said. "You know, she's reaching a really big audience with it and the message is important."
Julie added that it's refreshing to see her daughter teach thousands about their lifestyle — something they are all passionate about.
"It's important to everybody's life, whether they know it or they don't," Julie said of agriculture. "Every decision and every choice we make, it has life and death consequences, so for her to shine some light on that is really cool."
Claire said her busy days, which begin around 6:30 a.m. are well documented on her Instagram page. She said that without the platform, many of her friends might not realize what her life is really like.
"I've noticed it with my friends that they kind of see what we do," Claire said. "I learned pretty early on that our lives weren't like many students in our school."
Her mom couldn't be more proud.
“It’s critical to bring agriculture to a lot of different people, and that's what she's doing," Julie said with a smile. "And, you know, the fact that she’s a girl, too, makes me proud as a mom to see her be influential and use her voice for good."
